St. Catherine Lockdown Extended, More Time For Residents To Shop

The parish of St. Catherine will remain under lockdown for another seven days starting Wednesday (April 22), with additional time provided for residents to shop for essentials.

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, made the announcement during a digital press conference from Jamaica House on Monday (April 20).

The Government initially placed the parish on lockdown between April 15 and April 22, due to a surge in coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, the majority of which are linked to Alorica Jamaica – a call centre operation in Portmore.

The new shopping days are Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Monday between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. and the alphabetic classification for movement has been removed to allow for everyone to move around on the designated days.

“Thursday is a stocktaking day [for businesses]… . On Thursday, the stores are not open to the public, but they are open for restocking (and cannot serve the public). Thursday is a no movement day, except for essential service providers, who are permitted to move,” the Prime Minister said.

Tuesday is a no movement day, where stores can again restock. Sunday is a no movement day as well.

The Prime Minister said the establishments permitted to be open, such as supermarkets and pharmacies, must do so between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

“Pharmacies are allowed to remain open throughout the period of the measures, so pharmacies can open from Wednesday (April 22) to Tuesday (April 28). However, on the no movement days, they are only permitted to dispense pharmaceuticals,” he noted.

Mr. Holness said the social distancing orders have also been adjusted.

“The orders for social distances are modified. We had given three feet minimum that people should stay apart. The minimum is now six feet and these are orders we intend to enforce, and we are asking all Jamaicans to note that,” he said.

The Prime Minister noted that only essential services personnel and those on the exempted list will be allowed movement outside of the restricted hours.